By far, the question I get asked the most is, “How do you do so much?” Another version I hear a lot is, “I don’t know how you do everything you do.” I get the same question/comment weekly if not more often. I’m going to put some thoughts on the page here so I can point people to this blog so they can read about it if they want to. Hopefully you’ll get something out of this too.

In a nutshell, I do a lot. I don’t take time off too often. I’m nearly maxed-out on PTO. But when I do, I make it count. I don’t watch much TV. I don’t like to sit still. I love making things. I want to do even more. I sleep seven hours a night (I only say this because I won’t sacrifice sleep—I need to stay healthy so I can do more). I like to record podcasts. I haven’t decided if I’ll write another book. I recently made an online course to teach others a 3d program. I’m designing (and am going to build) a custom camping trailer from scratch. I’m a licensed architect. I mentor people. I lead. I’m on many teams. I want to be outdoors more. I like to exercise. I love rock climbing. I miss making music. I want to travel and see things. I want to have experiences. I want to be inspired. I want to be with my family.

I think about two words quite often: freedom and impact.

I like making goals. Part of the reason I like making goals for myself is that I enjoy progress. I try to go through the goal setting exercise once a quarter. Some goals are short burns, and some are long term.

I also like autonomy. Autonomy serves me well. I don’t like having to move at someone else’s speed limit (and this doesn’t always mean I like to move faster). Autonomy gives me the freedom to do more with my life than most people are comfortable taking on. It also allows for me to do meaningful work, to me at least.

The word ‘freedom’ immediately came to me earlier this year when Mark LePage asked the EntreArchitect Facebook group to "Pick one word that defines your focus for 2017.” There were lots of great words added in the thread that day and for many days after that. I wrote ‘freedom' that day because it meant autonomy among other subtleties.

So freedom was my word… for about 3 months. I've now changed it. Don’t get me wrong, freedom hasn’t been banished. It’s still there, but it’s not the priority. It’s now periphery. Hopefully it’ll be an outcome of my new word: impact.

Why did I change my word? Because I want to make a difference. Freedom was selfish. Freedom was for me. Impact is for others. Impact is my why. Why do I do what I do? To make an impact. To help others. To make a difference. To push the boundaries. To color outside the lines. To make progress. To allow for change. For better.

In case you’re wondering, I’m no different than anyone else. You could choose to do anything I do. You might be able to do it better. You just have to decide if it’s worth doing. What's important? What’s your priority?